Newbie saying hi & seeking advice

[chrisjw]

I joined the site yesterday after lurking for a couple of days........due to ill health, I am spending more time indoors, so needed a hobby to keep me occupied & sane......aircraft have always fascinated me, so I looked into expanding that interest & have purchased (second hand) a UNIDEN BEARCAT EZI-33XLT HANDHELD SCANNER, which I am awaiting delivery of.....as is my want, I have done some homework on getting my first scanner & this one seems ok for the job initially & will help introduce me to everything....I am eyeing this antenna as an upgrade (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3709583507...84.m1423.l2649), as I believe from reading, that the supplied one may not be sufficient. I live about 25 miles from Heathrow & on many days & evenings, the flight path for aircraft landing there is directly over my house (Barnet) at around 7000 - 8000ft, so I'm hoping I will be able to listen in to the control tower & flights......I'm not sure if the scanner will arrive with a manual & I've been searching on the Uniden site for a download, but it doesn't seem to mention this particular model anywhere.....If anyone can guide me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it......I have a link to an "airport code" site, so that I'll be aware of each flight that I follow & am looking forward to starting......any advice or guidance would be welcome........Thanks............Chris.

[JackL]

The stock antenna on your handheld should be good to receive aircraft transmissions out several hundreds of miles from your location as the aircraft are very high in the sky. I have heard many things, including the Space Shuttle when it was still flying, with the little rubber ducky antenna on a handheld. The control tower will be harder without a roof mounted antenna unless you are very close. I would visit http://ukradioscanning.com/viewforum.php?f=10 for frequency and other information specific to your local area. Happy listening!

[chrisjw]

High JackL & thanks for the info. My scanner arrived this morning & I'm sitting here playing with it now. I've managed to tune into the flights that are approaching Heathrow, over my house (Barnet), but not really anything else. However, it's early days & I am still getting my head around the scanner. Thanks for the link. I will go on there now & have a look.